German document DE 43 43 432 C2 describes a vacuum attachment for a vacuum cleaner having a rotating brush roller. In that approach, the bristles agitate the pile in the region of the suction mouth to provide effective pick-up of dirt. In the process, the carpet pile is “opened up” as the carpet surface is combed by a bristle bundle in the moving direction of the nozzle, or in the opposite direction, during rotation of the brush roller. However, the bristles are effective only in the direction of rotation of the brush roller.
To improve the cleaning performance of such a vacuum attachment, the attachments described in DE 101 26 354 A1, DE 102 10 862 A1, DE 102 00 346 A1 and DE 12 43 838 Bare designed such that the brush roller and/or its drive is capable of performing an oscillatory motion in an axial direction in addition to its rotation. Various motor or mechanical drives are described in the aforementioned documents.
Japanese document JP 2001 245 832 A, describes a brush roller of a vacuum attachment that can be floatingly supported by magnets.
A vacuum attachment having a rotatably mounted roller is known from GB 2 376 876 A.